This invention relates to a locking mechanism for a vehicle steering column.
In a crash situation, it is desirable that the vehicle's steering wheel can be moved axially forward away from the driver in order to prevent the driver impacting on the steering wheel. This has been achieved by a cable activated by the rearward movement of the engine following the crash pulling a break-away steering column mounting forward. The mounting then causes the column with steering wheel to move forward. However, this clearly relies on the column with associated structure and steering wheel being relatively fixed and non-adjustable. In the case of an adjustable reach steering column with its structure, there still remains a problem as to how to cause the steering wheel to be moved out of the possible impact zone of the driver.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present adjustable reach steering columns. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.